Northampton Town Football Club are taken over twice in a week

Thursday 3 December 2015

Northampton Town Football Club supporters had double reason to cheer last week, as the Cobblers were taken over twice in the space of two days.

On Thursday, it was announced former Oxford United chairman Kelvin Thomas’s takeover of the club had been completed, and off-the-field financial issues which had threatened the Cobblers’ existence had been resolved.

Then, on Saturday, the first-team cemented their place in League One’s automatic promotion places with a 2-0 win over Yeovil Town at Sixfields, rounding off a fantastic 48 hours for the club.

Joining in with the celebrations were students from the Cobblers’ main shirt sponsor, the University of Northampton, who ‘took over’ the club for the Glovers game.

More than 20 undergraduates from various degree courses assisted match-day staff, helped out with activities including looking after corporate guests; selling programmes; working in the club shop, commercial department and ticket office; helping the stadium manager and producing content for the media department.

“We were delighted to welcome the students from the University to the game and they made a real positive impact on our operations,” said Northampton Town CEO, James Whiting.

“They got involved and I hope they picked up a lot about just how much we all bring together to operate a successful match day.

“What made the day extra special was that the students were able to see behind the scenes at the first game with the club under the new ownership of Kelvin Thomas.

“We certainly enjoyed and benefitted from having the students with us, I hope they took something away from the day and we would be delighted to hold more student takeover days in the future.”

Anna Borley, Senior Lecturer in Leisure Management, added: ​”The event provided a fantastic opportunity for our students to gain some relevant work experience at an exciting local event, to make a positive impact in the community and support one of our key partners.”

The University is in the middle of a three-season shirt sponsorship deal with the club, which sees the institution’s name carried on the front of all Cobblers shirts, from the under-nine academy side through to the first team.​